I installed the new tru cool trans cooler and install was long but went well. Question is on checking trans fluid according to the manual you can do a cold level check for reference only but must do a hot check to get the actual measurement. Problem is the manual says to get trans to operating temp which is 175 to check the fluid level. Well with the new cooler and 100 degree outside temps i still cant get the trans temp above 150 (about 145). Drove around for an hour some hwy some city and cant get it hot enough, even let it idle in garage for 15 min. I know the gauge is working because before the cooler upgrade (bypassing the rad cooler) it was reading 175-185. So where do i need to be at on the stick for my temp?

 

145 degrees should be warm enough for a good reading. I would check it at that temp and call it good. Any pics of your install?

 

That is what i ended up doing was to fill it in the middle of the hot hatch mark so it will still have a little room to expand without being overfull. Here are some pics of the install. I enhanced the install thread i saw on here by removing the black plastic clip exposing the retainer clip holding the lines in the rad cooler. Better than trying to fit a sawzall or pipe cutter in there. I ended up capping the rad ports with a couple of 3/8 flare plugs i got from home depot. The lines already had a (bump) in them to hold the hose clamp in place so i did not need to make a stop bump with a flare tool. Also left the line on the driver side of the stock cooler alone and just used a 6 inch piece of hose to connect it to the new cooler. The pass side required a 12 inch hose. I cut the bottom p/s cooler bracket off the cooler as the p/s cooler is so little and light that it was not needed so as to make room for the new cooler. I used a 1/2 x 1/2 alum sq tube for the pass side top mount to make it as rigid as possible as appose to the supplied mounting strap in the tru cool kit. To keep a factory look and add some core support stability i removed the stock cooler brackets from the stock cooler and put them back on the front of the core support.

 

Great job!

 

Wow that's the size of a radiator on a compact car!!!

 

which tru-cool tranny cooler did you use? and what thread had install instructions?

 

which line is supply line from tranny? doing install tomorrow and think I need to use thermal bypass since its below 32 all winter here..wonder what would happen if I didn't?